ConservingNow Community Change

Bangalow Basics is the first store in the village of Bangalow to go plastic bag free.  The village is attempting to become greener by encouraging all local businesses to stop carrying plastic bags by the end of 2009.

There is a great article in the New York Times that summarizes where many American cities are on their plastic bag policies, be it recycling, banning or taxing. 

See the article here:

http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/19/where-recycling-plastic-bag...

Think there is "just" a plastic bag island in the ocean?  Think again.  A local scuba instructor in Hawaii teamed up with a videographer and the results of what they found floating in the ocean are shocking.

Mexico City has banned stores from using any plastic bags that do not biodegrade.  The move comes from an effort of the government in Mexico City to clean up the city and improve its environment.  "The law affects all stores, production facilities and service providers within the Federal District, which encompasses the city limits.

Turns out that plastic bag waste is not the most harmful by-product of plastic bags - toxic gases just might be.  A new study reported on in The Independent states that as plastic bags break down they are releasing gases that are incredibly harmful to both humans as well as marine life. 

From The Independent:

The fall out from Tuesday's vote on Seattle's plastic bag tax continues.  Many articles cite the unfairness on lower income indivduals or the public mistrust of where the tax funds would go.  It will be interesting to continue to monitor this debate as more and more cities consider how to approach their plastic bag problems.  The following is a collection of articles from the New

At last count, Seattle's voters have rejected a 20 cent plastic bag tax by a margin of 58% to 42%.  Opposition to the campaign outspent the supporters of the tax by 15 to 1.  At ConservingNow.com we were very disappointed to hear of the results.  It is positive to see that already there is chatter on the internet about a public campaign to support recycling the plastic bags as we

"House Bill 15, now law with the addition of Governor Markell's signature, calls for virtually all stores that hand out plastic grocery-type bags to customers to accept the bags back for recycling by August first of next year.

"Campaigners in Dunedin collected enough plastic bags from shoppers in less than 5 hours to create a 70-metre long chain, as part of Saturday's 'Plastic Bags Aren't Free Day'.  Onlookers were just astounded by the chain,” said DSSCF co-organiser, Celia Neilson.

"Over one hundred Magnetic Island State (primary) School students have signed a petition asking Townsville City Council to ban the use of plastic shopping bags on the Magnetic Island.  For the record the petition to Townsville City Council reads: "We, the